UP coach admits goal of 3 wins now a 'tall order'

By Camille B. Naredo, ABS-CBNnews.com

MANILA, Philippines – University of the Philippines (UP) head coach Rey Madrid admitted on Saturday that their goal of getting three wins in the UAAP Season 77 tournament is now a "tall order" after the Fighting Maroons dropped a close game to Far Eastern University (FEU).

The Tamaraws held the Maroons scoreless in the final two minutes to hack out a 75-69 victory, sending the Maroons to a 1-10 record with just three games to go in the elimination round.

"The window is getting narrower and narrower," Madrid told reporters after their game. "We have to pull out a win against Ateneo, NU and then we have to duplicate our feat against Adamson."

"It's gonna be a tall order," he admitted.

UP's lone victory of the season came against Adamson, 77-64, in their first-round encounter. They came close to notching another victory against University of Santo Tomas in the second round, but faded down the stretch and lost 65-77.

Madrid, however, insisted that the Maroons are still "up to the challenge" of getting three victories and was proud of how his players competed against the Tamaraws, currently the top team in the UAAP.

"They were challenging every loose ball, they were competing the whole time, up to the last moment," he said. "It was just a matter of whether the shots were coming in or not."

"They took beautiful shots. They just didn't go in. I cannot fault them for that; they played a good game," he added.

UP will have a chance to add to their win tally when they play the Ateneo Blue Eagles on Wednesday.